I have a hardtop Gladiator. I take the top off in May and put it back on in October. While hardtop is off, I keep a safari top on. It leaves it open, but blocks the sun and light rain.
My wife has a Wrangler Sahara. It has a hardtop from May until October, then we switch to the soft top. I...
FWIW, I replaced 2 JK windshields during 1 calendar month due to road debris impacts. I had to replace another previously repaired windshield because the sun was on it one cool spring morning (it was a Saturday and I was outside by myself; if I hadn't heard the pop I wouldn't have believed my...
I've had guide pins on my doors for over 2 years. I know a lot of people that keep the guides in full time.
I used to put the bolts back when I had a JK and it takes about 2 minutes to do them all, so it's really just a matter of how lazy you feel at the time.
Not with mine. I've got a mopar doors-off mirror kit. They use the top hinge on the fronts. There are plenty of other mirror options if you want front tubes.
4 eye bolts screwed into the ceiling joists and 4 ratchet straps. I used this with my JKU top for years, then went straight to using fir my JT. I just put a second one in on the other side of the garage for my wife's JLU.
Cheap, reliable, can be easily operated by 1 person.
I ordered a Reign Sahara for my wife and we picked it up in October. Around the time most of them were being built was the same time Jeep was having trouble getting the chips or whatever for the Safety and Advanced Safety options. That might limit availability of those options on the used market.
If you're familiar with Wranglers, a Gladiator will be almost but not quite as capable due to being a bit longer.
That said, a stock Gladiator will be very capable. You won't have any problems with moderate trails. With a few mods, you shouldn't have trouble with difficult trails either.
I saw a few in person when we picked up our JL at Gupton last month. I was on the fence about it before I saw it in person and decided it's definitely not for me after seeing.
I've got a Gator Gladiator and I've had my fair share "is that baby shit green?" comments, so I get the attraction...